Dedicated power


After a lot of research and consideration, mostly between power conditioners and dedicated circuitry, I have decided to go with 3 dedicated lines. One for amp one for pre and a 3rd for CD or digital. What I'm thinking is that I can pull the wire myself and then hire a professional electrician to do the breaker work and wall terminations using hospital grade outlets. My question is what wire should I use? I have heard of people using 12-2 or 10-2 but don't have knowledge of wire specific details. Anybody up on this?
markus1299
I had my electrician run me a sub panel(8 breakersX15a) for my system.
All eight of my outlets are wired with 10 gauge.Then I had him give me 2X240v for my 20a and 15 Balanced TorusX2.I've
heard 10 gauge was the way to go.I couldn't be happier.
You can get most of the benefit of dedicated lines, especially for lo-current equipment by use of a large isolation transformer.
Mark, I am not following your comment regarding 10AWG wire and a possible code violation. I thought that the NEC specified the minimum gauge for the wiring and that the installation of larger conductors, while overkill from a safety perspective, could do no harm.

As I understand it, undersized conductors can overheat and cause problems to the extent the circuit sees sustained current draw approaching its maximum rated capacity. As a result, using conductors that are smaller than the NEC-specified minumum can pose a hazard and constitutes a violation of the Code. On the other hand, larger conductors (e.g., 10AWG wire in a 20A circuit) will pass with flying colors and never pose a safety hazard in a similar test. What is your perspective on this?
That some outlets may not be rated for larger than 12ga would be the potential issue (connection points not large or secure enough). However, the often recommended Hubbells, PorterPorts and Jena Labs outlets will all handle 10ga wire with no trouble. And I would expect many others will do so as well.
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Bob, it's not the undersized/oversized wire issue that I was referring to. As you state, it's better to have thicker wire. It's the receptacle that I was referring to. Most duplexes are manufactured for 14 or 12 gauge wire, including the hospital grade receptacles that audiophiles often use. If you put a 10 gauge wire in it, the receptacle may overheat and pose a fire hazard if it's not rated for this size of wire. Or the wire won't fit properly in the receptacle. Either the screw on the side won't hold it and the wire will work itself loose with temperature changes, or the little hole at the back for inserting the wire directly into the duplex will be too small. So people may jam it in damaging it. It should say on the duplex itself what size wire you can use. Ten gauge wire is fine. I'm not disputing that. I'm just suggesting that people be careful to do it properly. Also keep in mind that there are often local electrical codes that add to the NEC, thereby imposing stricter requirements. You have to check the area where you live.